Editorial

Late Professor Amitava Chattopadhyay

(Ritam, Vol.2, No.3, pp.3-9)

November 24 : A day of Divine Boon

Not only to the devotees of Sri Aurobindo but to the human

civilization, as well, November 24, 1926 should be marked as a day of
an equal importance to that of August 15, the birthday of Sri
Aurobindo, and May 30, the day of his Uttarpara Speech. On 15th
August (1872) a ‘Divine Life’ comes on earth to show the earthly lives
the way to Divinity. The earlier part of his life he devoted to the
struggle of national freedom to come out of the alien rule. On seventy
fifth birthday of Sri Aurobindo, India earns her national freedom,
‘making for her.............the beginning of a new age.’ It is not just a
coincidence. Sri Aurobindo says, “it is naturally gratifying for me that it
should have assumed this vast significance. I take this coincidence, not
as fortuitous accident, but as the sanction and seal of the Divine Force
that guides my step in work with which I began life the beginning of its
“full fruition”.”1

What was his life mission? “It is this, by whatever means I must
have the direct vision of God,.........the Hindu religion declares that the
way lies in one’s own body, in one’s own mind.”2

The Uttarpara Speech (May 30, 1909) indicates, though in seed

form, Sri Aurobindo's spiritual philosophy that he evolved. ‘Man has to
become the divine superman and a perfect vessel of Godhead.’ “To be
the superman is to live the divine life, to be a god: for the gods are the
powers of God. Be a power of God in humanity”3 According to Sri
Aurobindo's integral evolutionary gradualism man is the latest but
certainly not the last evolute of nature; the spirit in him has not yet
been fully realised by him. According to Sri Aurobindo man is
supramental (atimanasa) being in the making.4

Sri Aurobindo was clear about his goal in yoga-

sadhana. Man in his ascent on the path of mental evolution to higher
consciousness has to climb respectively the mental steps, of higher
mind, illumined mind, intuitive mind and overmind. Sri Aurobindo
writes, “Above physical mind and deeper within physical sensation,
there is what we may call the intelligence of the life-mind, dynamic,
vital, nervous, more open, though still obscurely, to the physic, capable
of a first soul-formation, though only of an obscurer life-soul.....”5 In
between mind and supermind are there grades in the series; there are
successive elevations which we may call planes of the total mental
consciousness.

The uppermost elevation between physical mind and supermind

is ‘overmind’. Sri Aurobindo emphasized the link between overmind
and supermind. In the Life Divine Sri Aurobindo has described, in
detail, the overmind plane, overmind consciousness and overmind
gods.” The overmind is a principle of cosmic Truth and a vast and
endless catholicity is its very spirit; its energy is an all-dynamism as
well as a principle of separate dynamisms.6 Sri Aurobindo thinks, man's
position in the divine scheme of evolutionary gradualism is ambiguous;
he can neither reject altogether the inframental ‘push’ of matter and
life nor the supermental ‘pull’ of (overmind) and supermind. Caught in
between the forces of nature and the spirit, man is evolving, moves
towards a divinely specified goal.

The inframental push of nature from below is called ascent and

the supermental pull of spirit is called descent. The mental equilibrium
even in presence of opposing forces, is dynamic; however the
dynamism is unsteady, which may be attributed to the spiritual urge
for moving forward. In this fight against the lower nature man's final
victory is said to be assured by the Divine. “In the inner reality of
things a change of consciousness has always the major fact, the
evolution has always had a spiritual significance.”7

When he went to Pondicherry (1910) Sri Aurobindo was clear

about the mission as well as the path of his yogasadhana. By 1920, he
realised that unlike terrestrial
evolution the spiritual evolution has no end in the process, it
progresses indefinitely. On reaching the highest elevation in Divine
consciousness by ascending progression the individual starts to
descend down ‘so that after reaching the highest level God will through
him help others to reach supermind with less effort.’ “The physical
body, the life, the mind and understanding, the supermind, and the
Ananda these are the spirit’s five levels. The highest one rises on this
ascent the nearer he comes the state of that highest perfection open
to his spiritual evolution. Rising to the supermind, it becomes easy to
rise to the Ananda. One attains a firm foundation in the condition of
the indivisible and infinite Ananda, not only in the timeless
Parabrahman but in the body, in life, in the world. The integral being,
the integral consciousness, the integral Ananda blossoms out and
takes form in life”8 This is the basic theme of Sri Aurobindo’s
yogasadhana and this is the basic principle of his philosophy of integral
evolutionary gradualism.

Sri Aurobindo’s sadhana for ascent to supermental level started,

as referred by himself in Uttarpara Speech, during his jail life (1909). In
a letter to Barin in 1920 Sri Aurobindo describes this stage as
“preliminary and preparatory.” His intense tapasya to yoga continued
after he settled in Pondicherry. He writes these years (1910-1920) he
had been trying to follow the path as laid down to him by God (cf.
“Then he placed the Gita in my hands”, Uttarpara Speech). and it was
not completed till then. “If we cannot rise above that is, to the
supermental level, it is hardly possible to know the last secret of the
world and the problems it raises remains unsolved.”

“This is not easy change to make. After these fifteen years I am

only now rising into the lowest of the three levels of the supermind and
trying to draw up into it all the lower activities. But when this Siddhi
will be complete, then I am absolutely certain that god will through me
give to others the siddhi of the supermind with less effort.”9

From the trends of evening talks by Sri Aurobindo

just after August 15, 1926 it was gradually becoming clear to the
disciples round him, that the descent of Higher Consciousness,
promised by him, was drawing nearer and nearer to them. Then at last
the great day, the day for which all had been waiting for so many long
years arrived on 24 November, 1926 - the Siddhi Day of Sri Aurobindo,
the day of Victory for mankind.

Siddhi is accomplishment of the aims of self-discipline by yoga.

But the supermental self-discipline is not the same as that of spiritual
accomplishment. In spiritual accomplishment the psychic being will
undoubtedly, rise above to a certain extent but the physical, vital and
mental activities continue to exist in the same standing as it had been.
However in supermental siddhi the total consciousness along with
physical, vital and mental being would get transformed into a totally
different existence. It is “to know the Divine Being who is at once our
supreme transcendent self, the Cosmic Being, foundation of our
universality, and the Divinity within of which our psychic being, the
true evolving individual in our nature, is a portion, a spark, a flame
growing into the eternal fire from which it was lit and of which it is the
witness ever living within us and the conscious instrument' of its light
and power and joy and beauty.”10 We have to know our true self lying
deep within our apparent self of terrestrial existence. Unless we know
our true self, the true knowledge of ‘who am l’ and ‘what for am I’
remain unknown. True knowledge alone takes its deep within our self-
consciousness and breaks the boundaries between our inner self and
the ignorant material self and the boundaries between individual self
and the universal self; it enables us to realize the cosmic spirit the
higher supermental consciousness.

November 24, Sri Aurobindo’s Siddhi does not mean as if only he

himself and a handful of disciples were receiving the blessings of the
supreme in one little corner of the earth. The significance is far greater
than that. It was certain that a Higher Consciousness had descended
on earth since then. 24th (November 1926) was the descent of Krishna
into the physical. Krishna is not the supermental Light. The descent of
Krishna would mean the descent of the Overmind Godhead preparing,
though not itself actually, the descent of Supermind and Ananda.
Krishna is the Anandamaya; he supports the evolution through the
Overmind leading it towards the Ananda.”11

There arose a wide consenting Voice :

“Oh Strong forerunner, I have heard thy cry,

One shall descend and break the iron Law,
Change Nature's doom by the lone spirit's power.
A limitless Mind that can contain the world,
A sweet and violent heart of ardent calms
Moved by the passions of the gods shall come.
All mights and greatnesses shall join in her;
Beauty shall walk celestial on the earth,
Delight shall sleep in the cloud-net of her hair.
And in her body as on his homing tree
Immortal Love shall beat his glorious wings.”

(Savitri : Book III, Canto IV)

Reference:

1. Sri Aurobindo : On Himself, Pondicherry : Sri Aurobindo Ashram,

1995, p. 404.
2. Ibid A.B. Purani. The Life of Sri Aurobindo, 4th ed. Pondicherry:
Sri Aurobindo Ashram, 1995 p. 82.
3. Sri Aurobindo : The Hour of God, Pondichery: Sri Aurobindo Ashram,
1993 p.l0.
4. Sri Aurobindo : The Life Divine, p. 295-98 (Sri Aurobindo Birth
Centenary Library (SABCL) Vol. 18.
5. Ibid, p. 640.
6. Ibid, p. 283.
7. Ibid, p. 843-45 (SABCL, Vol. 19)
8. Ibid.
9. A letter of Sri Aurobindo to Barin : Bulletin of Sri Aurobindo
International Centre of Education, Vol. XIV, No.3, 1962.
10. Sri Aurobindo : The Life Divine, pp. 630-631 (SABCL, Vo!. 18)
11. Sri Aurobindo : On Himself, p. 136.

Amitava Chatterjee
* *
*

Gratefully we acknowledge the receipt of the permission of Sri

Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry for reproducing two extracts from
Savitri and The Life Divine along with their translations by Nalinida and
Sri Anirvan respectively.

We remain thankful to Uttarpara-Kotrung Municipality, M/s. Jenson and

Nicholson (India) Ltd., and Prof. D. L. Sarkar for the financial assistance
towards the publication of this issue of Rtam.

This issue of Rtam contains three articles in English and three in

Bengali.

An Introduction to The Synthesis of Yoga by Dr. Ananda Reddy, serves

its purpose cogently. To many of us The Synthesis of Yoga continues to
be a difficult study. Dr. Reddy's deep understanding of the subject and
its facile and masterful exposition within the short span of the article
should be immensely rewarding to all of us.

Dr. Dilip Kumar Roy, a reputed scholar and Professor of Philosophy

(Rtd.), has written in this issue of Rtam on Sri Aurobindo's Philosophic
Expression of Yoga. For this we have been waiting eagerly for quite
some time. Inspite of his heavy pre-occupations and indifferent health
Dr. Roy has made Rtam enriched through his scholarly contribution.
We remain grateful to him for this act of kindness and hope for more to
come from him. We pray to Sri Aurobindo and the Mother for his
recovery and good health.

24 November is a Day of great spiritual significance to man. It was on

this day in 1926 that Sri Krishna The Overmind Consciousness
descended in Sri Aurobindo. This divine event has been recorded by
some of the disciples of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother as witnessed by
them. Dr. Supriyo Bhattacharya dwells on this subject in his article The
Descent of Sri Krishna on 24 November focussing a new light on the
subject. The theme came to him as a sudden
and new revealation. The article as such must be an enlightening and
delightful reading. We are especially thankful to him for this article for
the 24 November issue of Rtam.

In some of the earlier issues of Rtam we had the privilege of publishing

a number of articles in English by Dr. Usharanjan Chakraborty. On our
request Dr. Chakraborty has written in Bengali for this issue of Rtam.
The article sriarabinda o srigitar aloye atimanab abirbhav chintan
(Musings on The advent of the Superman in the Light of Sri Aurobindo
and Sri Gita) is written in a very attractive and lucid language, which
we believe will be appreciated by all.

Our beloved Nirodda, a phenomenon blessed by the Master and the

Mother has just stepped into his one hundred and first birthday on 17
November 2003. The article by Prof. Pinaki Chakraborty niradbaran:
esana o praiti (Nirodbaran : Quests and Impulsions) is being published
in this issue of Rtam as our worshipful tribute to him on the occasion of
his glorious centenary. The article, an appreciation of Nirodbaran's
poetic genius includes some new material with the kind consent of the
poet. bharatiya biplabbader jnanaguru sriarabinda (Sri Aurobindo the
Master of Indian Revolutionary Ideology) by well reputed scholar and
Professor Shyamlesh Das (Rtd.) deals with the origins and
development of revolutionary thoughts and ideology in India with Sri
Aurobindo as its intellectual as well as spiritual master. We remain
thankful to Prof. Das for the kind and ready interest he has taken in
Rtam in response to our approach to him. Our expectations from him
does not end indeed with this one alone.